Smartphones can cost a lot of money but that doesn’t mean that if you spend less or a lot less, you miss out on a lot. The Oppo A15s is a good example of how smartphones ought to be about usability, not all the hardware you can possibly put into a phone and dish out in specifications sheets. Turns out, a phone priced under the Rs. 13,000 mark can get you through your work and maybe a phone costs 5 and 10 times as more isn’t 5 or 10 times better. Let’s see what makes the Oppo A15s so compelling.
The screen is possibly one of the most important bits of a phone. After all, it’s what you need to interact with, to watch content and run apps on. The Oppo A15s runs a 6.52-inch display, which is a lot. It’s just as large as flagship phone screens. It’s perfect if you like browsing through Instagram or watching YouTube videos. The resolution is 700 x 1600 (HD+) which is quite good for its size. With a pixel density of 269ppi, you shouldn’t notice a lot of difference between it and other smartphones. The front of the screen is free of distractions, with its tear-drop front-facing camera. The bezel at the bottom is a little thick but the rest of the screen has thin ones. Oppo claims its AI Brightness features adjusts brightness to your liking, once it has learned them. You won’t need to manually adjust anything. Those who love watching TV shows and movies will be glad to know the phone supports Dirac 2.0, an audio-enhancing feature.
At 177g, the Oppo A15s isn’t all that heavy despite its large screen. The power button and volume rocker are on the right, there is even a headphone jack at the bottom alongside the microUSB port. The headphone jack makes it easy to plug in any earphones or headphones, without any pesky adapters. The Oppo A15s sports a good-looking design, and it has the right ergonomics. The fingerprint scanner is placed at the back, and the camera block is the only other thing there. The Oppo A15s might be an everyday device and its colours are modest, yet stylish. There is a Fancy White and Dynamic Black to choose from. They aren’t pure black or white and so they give the device an elegant look.
The cameras at the rear are of importance. There are three of them that enable us to click all kinds of photos, that might end up on Facebook and Instagram. The primary camera there uses a 13MP sensor and a f/2.2 aperture lens. This is large enough to get bright photos in low light but also maintain good detail. There is also a 2MP depth sensor that helps produce great portrait photos. The 2MP macro lens is good for detailing subjects up close. Oppo claims that you can get as close as 4cm to the subject with the macro camera. This is great for small objects and things like flowers and insects. Everyday mundane objects bring on a whole world when used with this kind of lens. Up front in the teardrop camera mount lies an 8MP sensor that is great for clicking selfies, and video calling. There is also an AI Beautification feature that figures out your age, gender and then creates the right look for you. You won’t need to make fine changes using third-party apps before sending your photos to your friends and family. The front-facing camera can also be used to unlock the phone using the AI Face Unlock feature.
The cameras are the hardware, but there are also software features that work alongside the camera to deliver professional results. The Portrait Bokeh mode uses the depth sensor, but also helps smoothen the blur so your subject stands out bold, and the background fades off into a soft blur. There is also HDR capability, which can maintain details while adding more contrast and saturation to photos. There are also AI scene enhancements that can detect up to 21 different scenes and accordingly enhance your photos.
There is more to phones than just the screens and cameras, there is also the battery. The Oppo A15 runs a 4230mAh battery that Oppo claims can run 16 hours if you watch videos, or up to 6 hours if you’re playing games nonstop, without having to recharge. That’s a lot of power, especially for a phone of this price. The A15s even learns your usage habits so when you’re not using it at night, it can be configured to run the Super Nighttime Standby feature that lower battery consumption so you can wake up and still have a lot of charge left.
Most of the features we have spoken about depend on the processor. Thankfully, the Oppo A15s comes with a MediaTek Helio P35 (MT6765) octa-core processor clocked to run at speeds up to 2.3GHz, along with 4GB of RAM. That might not sound as impressive as the ones on flagship smartphones, but it’s really a practical setup. A lot of the apps and games you use run just fine with 4GB of RAM and the octa-core processor. Its Hyper Boost 2.1 feature helps tighten up response times and improve gaming performance when you need it. You also get 64GB of onboard storage to install your favourite apps and games, but what’s important is being able to expand the storage up to 256GB using the inbuilt microSD card slot. There is also a variation with 128GB of integrated storage.
The Oppo A15s ships with Android 10, running Oppo ColorOS 7.2 on top. There are enhancements to ColorOS 7.2 that include a Dark Mode, so it’s easy on your eyes. There are also features like smart Sidebar that gives you quick access to features such as taking screenshots or switching apps easily. Soloop is a nifty app that lets you edit videos quickly into final products that you can upload to any video hosting service like YouTube, Instagram or Facebook.
It should be obvious by now that you don’t really have to spend a bomb, to get a capable smartphone these days. The Oppo A15s is really a no-brainer for most of us. It can get you through your day, that might be occupied by work, some podcasts, music, and maybe movies and games. If you have been considering upgrading or getting a phone for a friend or family member, the A15s sits in the sweet spot with its attractive price tag. You can now order one at RelianceDigital.in and have it delivered to your doorstep in no time at all, and if you prefer, you can check it out also at your nearest Reliance Digital store.
Oppo A15s – Just everything you need
